Professor of Practice in Public Leadership

Harvard Kennedy School is a preeminent training ground for public leaders, and prepares its students to exercise leadership in a world with an array of social, political, and economic challenges. The School’s training combines rigorous academic preparation with extensive interaction with leading practitioners. HKS now seeks someone to serve as a Professor of Practice in Public Leadership. The candidate may also be appointed by the HKS Dean to serve as Co-Director of the School’s Center for Public Leadership in collaboration with an academic faculty member.

At HKS, Professors of Practice are senior members of the faculty who bring their insights and experiences to students through the degree-program and executive-education courses they teach, and who use their distinctive perspectives to influence the School’s curriculum, research, and engagement with other practitioners. Current Professors of Practice include people who have held very senior positions in federal and local government or in other important public institutions in civil society. The new Professor of Practice will work to advance the practice of principled, just, and effective public leadership through their scholarship and commentary and by contributing directly to the development of new generations of public leaders through teaching and mentorship, and through building and directing programs and activities at the Center for Public Leadership.

At the Center for Public Leadership, pre-eminent leadership faculty, esteemed public leaders, skilled staff, and extraordinary students create a fertile laboratory for public leadership development, including experiential learning spanning the classroom to the field of public service. Diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and access are core values in the Center’s learning community.  

The Center is home to fellowships for roughly 120 students who receive significant aid to attend the School and engage in extensive co-curricular activities to build their leadership capacity. The Center offers additional programming and resources that are open to all HKS students, including opportunities throughout the year to engage with distinguished public leaders in residence.  The Center supports a vibrant community of HKS faculty members with research and teaching related to the development of aspiring public leaders and agents of social innovation and change. The Co-Directors of the Center for Public Leadership report to the HKS Dean and are responsible for setting the Center’s strategy, cultivating relationships to develop the financial resources necessary for the Center’s success, collaborating with faculty and staff across the School, and working with the Center’s Executive Director to manage the roughly 30-person team.

 The Professor of Practice will be expected to play a leading role in facilitating interactions between students and leading civic and governmental leaders.  The professor should be a person with a broad set of external relationships that will benefit the Center, its students and the School’s pedagogy.

 Candidates should send a cover letter, CV, references, relevant publications, and evidence of teaching potential to mldsearch@hks.harvard.edu.  The committee will begin reviewing candidates immediately and continue until the position is filled.

Harvard Kennedy School is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy-related conditions, or any other characteristic protected by law. The Harvard Kennedy School is committed to building a diverse academic community, so we encourage applications from women, members of minority groups, and people of all political views and socioeconomic standings.